JEFFERSON — Somehow it just made sense that the Division II district championship volleyball match on Thursday ended the way it did.
With a lightning bolt off the left arm of Lake Catholic senior Abby Detering.
Heading into the Jefferson District final on Thursday, Lake Catholic had defeated Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin 11 times over the past four years — three times per season in 2010, 2011 and 2012, plus twice in the regular season this season.
Make that another trifecta for the Cougars, via a 25-20, 25-14, 25-18 victory appropriately ending with a Detering spike that pierced the hearts and dreams of an NDCL program to whom the Florida recruit has never lost.
“That was awesome,” Detering said of her final spike. “I’m so happy the way it ended.”
With the win, Lake Catholic (20-5) advances to the Division II regional at Stow-Munroe Falls at 6 p.m. next Thursday against North Coast League rival Beaumont.
“I love being the underdog, but I know we won’t be because we’ve beaten Beaumont twice this year,” Lake Catholic coach Rich Severino said.
“I think we’re the better team. We’ve just got to go there and take care of business.”
Like the Cougars did against the star-struck Lions, whose season ended at 17-8 — and three more losses to their most bitter rival.
The turning point of the match was early. When Jensen Sharrits served up back-to-back aces to give Lake Catholic a 25-20 win in the first game, it marked the first time this season the Cougars took the first game against the Lions.
NDCL won the first game in the initial meeting of the year, but lost in four. The Lions won the first game in Round 2, but lost in five.
“I think that was big,” NDCL coach Tom Ray said. “I think our girls planned on winning the first and then doing better (than in the first two meetings). But then Lake took control, won the first one, and took over whenever the score was inside the 20s.”
Severino didn’t lessen the importance of winning Game 1, saying it was the Cougars’ game plan to come out strong.
“I felt if we could somehow win the first, we had a chance to win in three,” Severino said, “because all of a sudden there would be a little doubt in their minds.”
NDCL came out slow after losing the first game and was blitzed without much resistance.
But the Lions weren’t about to go down without a fight, and the final offensive became a tete-a-tete between the up-and-coming players from both Lake Catholic and NDCL.
Behind a flurry of kills from sophomores Ambre Pierce, Erica Kostelac and Emily Suppel, the Lions took a 15-13 lead. The three sophomores, along with junior Stephanie Williams, are the primary faces of NDCL’s volleyball future.
Then it was Jaime Vargo’s turn to show what Lake Catholic’s future looks like.
The 5-foot-10 leaping left-hander — the heir apparent at right-side hitter when Detering takes her talents to Gainesville, Fla., clubbed a pair of kills to break a 15-all tie.
NDCL never led again.
As the match wore down, Vargo ripped three more kills and added a kill on tip.
She had seven kills in the final game.
“After the first couple, I knew we had to keep giving it to her,” Detering said of Vargo. “She was killing it.”
And perhaps making a statement for the future, one Detering is buying.
“She’s coming in — another big lefty,” Detering said. “It’s not going to be much different (than me). She’s going to do great.”
After awards were handed out, with NDCL reluctantly accepting the runner-up medal and trophy for the fourth year in a row, tears flowed from the NDCL players.
While Ray liked what he saw from his young hitters, he lamented losing the first game and then coming out sluggish in the second — things he hopes the youthful team can build upon next season.
The biggest growth will have to come in form of the team’s mental block. None of the current NDCL players have ever beaten Lake Catholic, and neither has Ray in his five years at the helm.
“It’s more mental than anything,” he said. “Physically, I think we’re just as good if not better than them. But Lake is confident. They’ve won the big match. We haven’t.
“Once we beat (the demons) in our heads, we’ll be OK. It’s just a matter of time.”
How confident was Lake Catholic? When the match ended, there was a bucket full of green and white carnations to hand to each player after receiving their district awards — flowers that might have been doled out in a somber manner had they lost.
But for a fourth straight year, they are winning flowers and winning medals.
“Twelve in a row is pretty amazing,” Severino said. “They’re young. But you know what? So are we.
“They’ll probably be the team to beat next year. We’ll see.”